UNAids aims for universal access to prevention and treatment by 2010
Rao
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More than 200 delegates from over 20 countries in the Asia Pacific region are meeting this week in Pattaya to discuss how to ensure universal access to HIV/Aids prevention, care, treatment and support
The conference runs until tomorrow. UNAids has set a goal of achieving universal access to treatment and care by 2010, following a pledge from the G-8 to give US$50 billion (Bt2 trillion) to developing countries to deal with the pandemic. The target was set after the World Health Organisation failed in its effort to expand treatment to cover 3 million people living with HIV by last year. The major concern facing the region is the high infection rate in specific groups, such as intravenous drug users, men who have sex with men, sex workers and migrant workers, said UNAids Asia Pacific regional director Prasada Rao. For the universal-access programme to be successful every nation in the region needs to ex-pand prevention and treatment program-mes, Rao said. It is essential to end discrimination against people with HIV/Aids, he added. To get political leaders in Asia to make HIV/Aids a priority is a challenge because the epidemic is not as prevalent here as on other continents, he said. However, data from last year showed an alarming rise in infection rates among intravenous drug users and men who have sex with men, Rao added. It is alarming enough that more than 8 million people live with HIV/Aids in the region and there are more than 1 million new infections a year, said Michel Sidibe of UNAids. “We’re talking about extending the efforts to reach people who we have not reached previously,” Sidibe said. Thailand is committed to halving the rate of new infections by 2010 and including marginalised groups like intravenous drug users and men who have sex with men in its prevention and treatment programmes. Arthit KhwankhomThe Nation Pattaya
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